Hi anybody know how to cure a cloudy/milky tank? the tank is my dads and is not overstocked, overfed or in direct sunlight and all ornaments and gravel were thoroughly cleaned before being used in the tank. The tank is a 350 ltr and is running its standard filtration system which includes, spraybar, sponges, bag of charcoal sticks and also ceramic balls (inc one fine filter media designed to stop cloudyness lol) as well as another fluval 4 internal filter as well as regular gravel vacuuming. Am at a loss as to why it is clouding up so much as some days it goes nearly clear and then the next it is all milky again. Have also tried the chemicals to eliminate clouding but they are not working either. Help!
cloudy tank
- Thread starter thermalthong
- Start date
sorry to hear this. How long has the tank been set up ? It normally takes 3-4 weeks for a new tabk to run fully and be cloudless. Have you got fish in the tank ? I would not at this stage add chemicals, as this will mix the water up even more. If you clean the hwole tank new, it will go cloudy for a while. Please provide more details. cheers Jk :thumbup:
hi, exactly what bigbird said, is it cycled ? Also, does he stagger his cleanings of gravel, filter etc.? I once had to clean both filters on my 54g within 2 days, due to filter prob, whereas I usually stagger and clean one, then the other a few weeks later, giving the biomedia time to recoup. I had milky water for a week or so because of this-- mini-cycle. Can you test your water and post what readings you get ,ie : amonia, nitrate, nitrite, ? that would also be helpful. thanks ,
Hi he did mention high ammonia and i think nitrate so has done another change but i have not been round to get the readings tosee for myself. The tank has been running since may 2012 and has fish in it. When he cleans the filters and gravel he does it in one go.
sorry , I just read this, high amonia, cleaning EVERYTHING at same time, and cloudy water probably = mini-cycle. As mentioned earlier, cleanings should be staggered , that goes for vacuums too . One thing a week, wait ,then next thing, and try not to squeeze any sponges COMPLETELY out , as much of the beneficial bacteria live in there. Basically just wanna get the gunk/mulm off with a few dips and a light squeeze in old tank water. He can use Prime if the amonia and nitrIte are high to detoxify , until the cycle is finished. By the date this was first posted ,things shoud be back to normal by now. Depending on the fish load , filters can go longer between cleanings. Hope it is cleared up by now.